McLaren MP4-12C software fixes done – deliveries re-start

McLaren has had problems with software issues on the MP4-12C, but we’re hearing the fixes are complete and deliveries of new cars have re-started.

The birth of the McLaren MP4-12 C should have been a cause for real celebration; the first new McLaren in a generation (almost) and a Brit competitor for the Ferrari 458. But there have been problems.

Like all small car makers, McLaren has to buy-in most of the clever computer whiz-bang stuff all new cars have, which means McLaren’s tech-bods have to work out how to make it all play pretty together.

But we’re hearing from MP4-12C owners that there’s a new firmware fix that corrects the issues reported so far, and McLaren are so convinced the 8.2 firmware update has fixed what’s been glitchy that they’ve actually restarted deliveries of the MP4-12C.

All those owners who have already got their cars will be asked to bring them in for a firmware update, but it’s not a quick flash memory job that takes five minutes. It’s said, depending on how early the software is in the car, that it will take between one and three days to install.

Which sounds on a par with the US emissions update they used to do down a modem in the ’90s for the McLaren F1.